What Your CEO Needs to Know About Sales Compensation by Mark Donnolo Summary

What Your CEO Needs to Know About Sales Compensation explains how aligning sales incentives with business strategy drives revenue growth. Mark Donnolo reveals common CEO missteps in compensation design, using frameworks like the Revenue Roadmap (Insight, Sales Strategy, Customer Coverage, Enablement) to bridge gaps between leadership goals and sales team execution. The book combines Fortune 500 case studies with actionable models to optimize incentive plans.

CEOs, sales leaders, and HR executives responsible for revenue growth will benefit most. It’s also valuable for board members seeking to align compensation with long-term strategy. Donnolo’s insights help organizations balancing overpayment risks with underperformance caused by misaligned incentives.

Yes, for its actionable Revenue Roadmap framework and C-suite perspectives on incentive design. Donnolo’s 25+ years consulting Fortune 500 firms like UPS and AT&T provide real-world solutions to common problems like quota misalignment and behavioral misdirection.

The Revenue Roadmap identifies four interconnected competencies:

• Insight (market/customer analysis)
• Sales Strategy (targets/channels)
• Customer Coverage (territory/account planning)
• Enablement (compensation/training)
  Donnolo argues these areas must synchronize to drive profitable growth, with compensation as the keystone motivator.

Donnolo highlights how executives often treat compensation as a cost rather than a strategic lever. He provides C-Level Goals, a five-perspective tool (customer, product, coverage, talent, financial) to align incentives with CEO priorities.

Key pitfalls include:

• Focusing solely on ROI without considering behavioral impact
• Misaligning quotas with business objectives
• Overcomplicating incentive structures
  The book emphasizes simplicity and tying payouts to controllable milestones.

Unlike tactical guides, it targets C-suite leaders with a systemic view of compensation’s role in strategy execution. Donnolo integrates behavioral economics and CEO interviews, contrasting with peer works focused solely on compensation mechanics.

This tool connects strategy to compensation by evaluating:

1. Customer priorities
2. Product objectives
3. Coverage models
4. Talent capabilities
5. Financial targets
   It ensures sales plans reinforce broader business goals rather than conflicting with them.

With hybrid sales models and AI-driven analytics reshaping incentives, the book’s focus on flexibility and strategy alignment remains critical. Donnolo’s milestone-based compensation approach adapts well to complex, multi-stage sales cycles.

Some note the framework requires significant organizational buy-in to implement fully. Smaller companies may find the Fortune 500 examples less relatable, though principles remain applicable.

Drawing from 25+ years consulting for firms like LexisNexis and KPMG, Donnolo combines academic rigor (MBA from UNC) with practical solutions. His LinkedIn Learning courses expand on the book’s concepts.

Yes, the Enablement section addresses distributed workforce challenges, advocating for clear metrics and milestone-based rewards to maintain motivation in virtual environments.